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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26544250">Same Time Tomorrow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_dies_at_the_end/pseuds/she_dies_at_the_end'>she_dies_at_the_end</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Rockstar Saga [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Zootopia (2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, F/M, POV First Person, Romance, Short &amp; Sweet, Slice of Life, Smoking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:22:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26544250</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_dies_at_the_end/pseuds/she_dies_at_the_end</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Young and sleep deprived, Violet Hopps is busy balancing college life in the big city with her part time at the hospital. The bit of solace she does find in her hectic schedule comes from her five minute smoke breaks shared with a handsome wolf she slowly gets to know until she starts looking forward to their brief encounters everyday.</p>
<p>(Set one year before the events of PoP)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Violet Hopps/Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Rockstar Saga [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Same Time Tomorrow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was a bonus track originally but I didn't know where to put it given it has absolutely nothing to do with the PoP story. And given the news lately, I kind of wanted to share a positive and fuzzy short tale to lift some spirits. This is a simple love story with Violet Hopps and an OC that sort of ties into the whole PoP universe down the line with hints to the sequel I had in mind for the future. There's no Judy or Nick in this one, though Judy gets name dropped a few times, but I hope you guys can enjoy it all the same. Violet's a fun character I'd like to do more with, especially given the special relationship she has with her little sister.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>5:03 AM. Wake up. 5:12 AM. Coffee. 5:16 AM. Smoke.  5:24 AM. Get dressed. 5:29 AM. Run for bus. 5:30 AM. Forget keys and run back. 5:31 AM. Miss bus. 6:06 AM. Make it to work. Five minutes late. 6:18 AM. Second cup of coffee. Remember how to mammal. Remember nametag on the scrubs.</p>
<p>Violet Hopps. I’m twenty one. I have a part time job in Zootopia General as a nurse assistant. I’m three years into my undergraduate. Then I got four years in medical school. Four more in residence assistance, if I’m lucky. Some days it feels like I am. Some days it doesn’t.</p>
<p>Today was feeling like one of those days.</p>
<p>They always told me I was crazy for balancing study with a demanding job like a CNA. Well, they were right. And I’m not one to ever back down from that kind of challenge. But I am slowly losing my mind to coffee brain and secondhand morning breath. After awhile, you don’t even mind being peed on by the patients. Really. It’s all just fluids at this point. Just sterilize and it's fine. It’s the smells you don’t get used to, when it sticks with you even after a shower. At least there’s no one to smell me outside my roommates, and they’re too busy partying from the night before to see me bathe before class.</p>
<p>I don’t get to sleep in. It’s go, go, go from the moment I get up.</p>
<p>That’s fine. We rabbits are early risers. Work hard in the morning, play in the evening. My evening’s spent catching up on homework though. Works for me. Gotta keep that GPA above 3.8 and I absorb stuff like a sponge. They have a name for people like me if they knew me. But I always make the appearances I need to. Maybe not hitting up parties, but I talk with everyone in class. I run the literature club. Smile during lectures and coordinate the group projects because no one else wants to. Hang out with folks in the cafeteria during lunch. Picked up smoking from that. I never really liked it, but it was a good way to build up those social bonds.</p>
<p>Social? From smoking? Hah. You addict.</p>
<p>The cravings really start to bite me around ten. I’m due for a break at that point. Tell the administrator that I’m taking off and I’m out the door. Silence on the streets.</p>
<p>Regulations keep me from smoking within one hundred feet of the hospital. Zoots General shares a hub of various other local businesses, somewhere on the southside of Savannah. Near Tundratown. It’s cold and that makes me hurry along through the shoveled sidewalks. There was another blizzard, the second storm when 2009 has just barely started. Wonder if that’s an omen or not. Whatever. A cigarette would warm me up. Fire good, Barkenstein. I dig around my pocket for my lighter, knocking my apartment keys around.</p>
<p>I had been calling it the Smoker’s Square.</p>
<p>In reality, it was just a courtyard between two business buildings with a cute little gazebo. That and the ashtray made it appealing enough of a spot for every smoker within five blocks to congregate. I’ve started to become familiar with the usual suspects around too, despite just getting the job a month ago.</p>
<p>There’s the elephant who owns the ice cream parlor comping on a cigar the size of me, sitting around the frozen fountain. Cold weather is bad for his business. There’s the black wolf lurking in the gazebo. I don’t know what his deal is. I know his brand of cigarettes though. Then there’s the lemur with a snaggle tooth. She looks as tired as I do with a grocery store apron on. That’s right. I need to pick up some apples for study snacks tonight. Thanks for the reminder, lemur lady.</p>
<p>I bundle up in my winter coat as the people around me disappear into shapes. For a moment, there’s just silence as I take a long drag. It’s nice. Like the world’s wrapping me up in its arms.</p>
<p>Really, I should quit. There are nine hundred and ninety nine reasons why I should and they all rhyme with dancer. But in this moment, in the literal circus show that is my life, I need the time to breathe. Even if it’s breathing in toxic fumes. It’s just till after medical school, I tell myself. Then I’ll quit. It’s a comforting lie.</p>
<p>Five minutes is all I can spare. Or about one cigarette. There’s a bit of a waste there, but oh well. I stick what’s left of it in the tray and bid my smoking companions farewell with a silent nod. Farewell thee well fellow vice lords of Amber Street.</p>
<p>Same time tomorrow.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s not until quitting time that I realize I lost my keys.</p>
<p>Like I said, today wasn’t looking my way. It never fails. You go through the whole day so focused on just living it that you miss something pretty important right before your eyes.</p>
<p>So, there I was, on my paws and knees looking around the coat room because that’s the only place I can think of where they could be. No point carrying around keys all day when you can just stick them in your coat pocket, right? And no one goes in there, so they can’t have been stolen. I’m positive I brought them with me into work...No, I’m sure of it. Because I forgot them at the bus stop this morning.</p>
<p>That means the only other place they could be...Is Smoker’s Square.</p>
<p>Great. That’s in the completely other direction of where I need to go. And I have class in thirty minutes. So much for lunch.</p>
<p>More time spent in the freezing cold is not my idea of fun. It’s moments like this where I miss the burrows. Sure, it could get plenty cold in winter too. But the summers were scorchers, and that had me feeling toasty just thinking about them. I carry a few memories with me as I march to the glorified lot.</p>
<p>It’s empty by the time I get there. Just as well. Saves me from being that weirdo snooping around a public place. Like an old creeper on a playground. Ugh.</p>
<p>At least, I thought I was alone. I have my head underneath the gazebo bench when someone comes up behind me.</p>
<p>“Looking for this?”</p>
<p>I bump my head as I jump up. So much for not looking like a weirdo. Thankfully, it’s no one I know. Well, not directly, at least.</p>
<p>Mister black wolf is staring down at me, my keys in his outstretched paw and coffee in the other. He’s wearing a black hoodie that’s thick with wool and cigarette burns. His jeans aren’t looking too much better, but at least they’re well loved. He smokes the brand that dad used to before he quit, a stick in his mouth. He’s probably only a couple of years older than me but he looks thirty.</p>
<p>I should say something to him. But my head is throbbing from the growing bump on the back of it. And I’m already going to be late for class.</p>
<p>I think I mouth a thank you and snatch the keys from him. He’ll understand if I look busy. Because I am busy! I’m not scared of wolves. Not at all. Nope.</p>
<p>And so, I leave in one of my most awkward peel outs in my entire life.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The encounter is one of those things that I recall over and over in my head when lying in bed and then pound my face with the pillow in embarrassment. So uncool. He probably totally thinks you’re weird now, Violet.</p>
<p>The worst part is I know I’m going to see him again today. It’s not like one of those one off moments where you bump into a random someone on the train. Then the two of you do that awkward dance trying to pass each other. Nope, since starting as an CNA this guy’s been smoking the same time I do. I don’t know if he’s noticed me before, but he will now. I know he will.</p>
<p>When break time rolls around, I half debate finding a new spot for smoking.</p>
<p>No, Violet. Be a big girl. It was just an awkward moment that he’s probably forgotten about. It happens all the time. He doesn’t even know your name, what does he care? Besides...This is the quietest place in range of the hospital to allow my vice.</p>
<p>I pull up into my usual spot. Take out a cigarette. And…</p>
<p>Nope. Nuh uh. Not gonna work. He’s standing right there, in the gazebo. Sure, he’s facing the completely other direction. But I know he can smell me. He’s a canine, they all have their noses.</p>
<p>I claw at my eyes. Can’t even enjoy a five minute break without feeling weird.</p>
<p>I’m so going to waste my precious smoking time by doing this. But it has to be done. For the future of cigarette breaks everywhere. So one day I can look at and tell my grandchildren that today I apologized for being rude and running off. That I, Violet Hopps, am a decent bunny who apologizes to people.</p>
<p>He didn’t even notice me approaching him until I cleared my throat.</p>
<p>“Uh...Hi…”</p>
<p>“Yo.”</p>
<p>Baby steps. Yep. First contact made. Don’t you feel better about it now, Vivi?</p>
<p>No. Worse, actually.</p>
<p>He’s looking at me like I’m a child and I know I’m behaving like one. The restrained part of me wants to crawl up into a ball on the spot, roll into a bush, and then die. I silence her with a promise to get ice cream at the school cafeteria later. For now, I need to say something else. I’m already eating into both of our cigarette breaks, if the glazed eyes he’s giving me are a clue.</p>
<p>Just say it and get it over with.</p>
<p>“I just...I wanted to thank you for finding my keys yesterday.”</p>
<p>Am I making it sound like I thought he’d make off with them? Great. Cause I don’t think that! I like wolves. And canines...No, I don’t have a problem with them. I’m over it.</p>
<p>“No problem,” he mutters. He speaks like he’s testing his voice after years of disuse. “Would have brought them to the hospital but didn’t know who to ask for.”</p>
<p>Hospital? How does he know I work at the hospital? Is he a stalker?</p>
<p>Oh. Right. I’m wearing scrubs under my coat. Duh.</p>
<p>Smooth, Vivi. But he’s probably seen your confused look. And you’re being too stupid to say anything back.</p>
<p>“Didn’t want to bother,” he continues. “Figured you didn’t need the distraction when there’s more important things to worry ‘bout in a hospital. Sides. I knew you’d be back.”</p>
<p>Now I’m predictable too? Perfect. He thinks you’re weird, Violet. I can use the cold as an excuse for my blushing ears.</p>
<p>“How did you figure that?” I asked.</p>
<p>“Considering the key was labelled ‘home,’ I can imagine you’d rather not spend the night outside. Trust me, sleeping in the cold sucks.”</p>
<p>Ugh. I couldn’t even imagine doing that. There was a homeless awareness program at school where they would have students sleep outside in winter for credit in classes. I never did it, but I had friends who did. They all hated it.</p>
<p>“Glad I found you though,” finished the wolf. “Hope you got home safe.”</p>
<p>“I...Thanks. Were you, uh, looking for me?”</p>
<p>“Just hanging out,” he breathed some smoke through his nose. “Folks tend to come and go at the Square. But everyone’s got their own ticks and schedules. Like the trains.”</p>
<p>I huff a laugh. “Less noisy.”</p>
<p>“You’d be surprised how loud people can get around here. Specially at night.”</p>
<p>“You live locally then?”</p>
<p>He smirks. “You could say that, yeah. How about you?”</p>
<p>“I go to college at ZU but I have a dorm in the area.”</p>
<p>Should I have said that? I mean, he seems nice. But what if he’s just some creeper who will find out where I live and break in? Of course...He could have done that by stealing my keys and following me home. I’m sure they have locksmiths in the city who figure out where keys belong to. Right? Like in the movies? Or maybe he hired a hustler to duplicate it.</p>
<p>You’re reading too much into this, Violet. This is just a normal adult conversation. People have those from time to time.</p>
<p>“Ah,” the wolf smiled wider. “A ZU-Brat, huh?”</p>
<p>“And just what is that supposed to mean?”</p>
<p>“Oh, nothing. I was in Ratgerds at one point. That’s what they called you guys around the sports games. Never bothered with them though. Don’t mind the nickname.”</p>
<p>“I never bothered with sports either.”</p>
<p>“I’m not surprised. You look too smart for the frat party lifestyle, working in a hospital and all.”</p>
<p>“Not smart enough to not smoke…”</p>
<p>“Everyone has a vice. Ours doesn’t hurt anyone and we keep to ourselves about it. No need to be ashamed of who we are, right?”</p>
<p>His grin at saying that warms me up.</p>
<p>“Right…”</p>
<p>See? Normal conversation. You’re worrying too much about this, Vivi.</p>
<p>...And not watching your time.</p>
<p>“Crap,” I mutter checking my phone. “I need to get back. Not because I don’t like talking with you! Because I enjoyed this...Break. But the hospital director gets cranky when I show up late and...And…”</p>
<p>“It’s cool,” he replies, no offense in his voice as he takes a long drag. “It’s nice to talk to someone out here for a change. Same time tomorrow?”</p>
<p>I realize that I’ve barely touched my cigarette in the time we’ve spent talking. For some reason, I don’t see it as a waste as I smile back.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Same time tomorrow.”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>I learn a lot by talking to him over the course of the week. But I never ask him his name. That feels rude.</p>
<p>I settle for the little drops of information we start to share with each other in five minute spans. It stays on the topic of college, at first. It’s a safe and familiar route. He had a degree in musical theory before he stopped going. The subject gets a little cold, so I change it by talking about myself instead.</p>
<p>They’re boring facts, the type that you give for a quick summary of yourself while at a party. But he listens to them all the same. I came from the burrows to become a doctor. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I like to help people. I decide I like him after he doesn’t blink or bat at eye at my goals in life. Most rabbits stay on the farm, after all, and people tend to prefer we keep it that way.</p>
<p>I keep the subject on myself for the week. Nice, Violet. I’m sure he loves to hear you talk about yourself all day.</p>
<p>But I don’t get the impression that he’s ever bored of listening to me. He’s got nice chestnut eyes that stare right at me as I go on blabbing. They make me feel like I’m doing a good thing.</p>
<p>Then Friday rolls around and I’m an idiot.</p>
<p>The exam that I thought was <em> supposed </em>to be next week is actually today. This is because I needed to focus on holding that poetry reading in literature club at midday on top of tutoring some classmates cramming for midterms. With all that in mind, I ask a “friend” about the exam and she gives me the wrong date. Suddenly, the weekend I thought I had to spend studying is gone and I’m forced to waste the entirety of Thursday staying up all night. Twelve cups of coffee later and I’m barely functioning enough to clean the bedpans at the hospital. I don’t know how I’m supposed to pass this exam for canidae biology, let alone make it till past noon.</p>
<p>Somehow, I make it to 10 AM.</p>
<p>“You alright?” He asks as I join him in the gazebo. I forget I had even walked all this way.</p>
<p>“Huh? Yeah. I’m fine.”</p>
<p>“You sure don’t look it,” he mutters glancing at me. “You put the cigarette in your mouth backwards.”</p>
<p>I thought the stick tasted more like tar. I spit it out into the trash and get a fresh one. He doesn’t laugh, but I’m too tired at this point to care if he did.</p>
<p>He just continues to look at me, not even bothering to smoke his own cigarette.</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” I croak to myself with a forced smirk. “Really. Just got a big exam that I crammed for.”</p>
<p>“On top of work at the hospital?”</p>
<p>“Have to pay the bills somehow,” I offer a weaker smile. “College ain’t cheap.”</p>
<p>“True,” he closes his eyes and nods. “But you’re asking for your own trip to the hospital, from the look of you. And not in the working kind of way. More in the ‘I passed out from sleep deprivation and hit my head on a metal railing’ kind of way.”</p>
<p>That’s a colorful image. Red splashing against pure white snow. I don’t even realize my head is nodding off until I snap to attention. My neck hurts just to hold it up and even my ears feel heavy. I have to catch myself on the railing. I don’t even need him to tell me that I’m a mess. How uncool.</p>
<p>“I’ll be fine,” I say again. “Nothing another cup of coffee can’t fix.”</p>
<p>“Sleep would be better, you know. Ain’t healthy to be pulling all nighters, despite what the frat houses would tell you. Sure, you can make a habit out of getting by on minimum hours of sleep. But fall into a routine and it only takes one bad day to royally mess you up.”</p>
<p>“I do not have a routine,” I reply. “I’ll have you know I have a perfectly normal and varied college lifestyle.”</p>
<p>My rabbit ears catch him muttering. “That wasn’t quite what I meant.”</p>
<p>“I got it handled. I’ve been doing this all year, trust me. I’m used to it.”</p>
<p>“Burn the candle at both ends and eventually you’re gonna run out of wax. Wouldn’t you rather go home and take a nap so you’re a little rested before this big test of yours?”</p>
<p>Nap. That sounds absolutely lovely. We have every opportunity to nap during the day when we’re kids, but we waste it because we’re in a hurry to be adults. Then, suddenly, when we really want one, we don’t have the time for it.</p>
<p>“I have work to do,” I repeat. “Why do you care so much, anyways? It’s not like I’m drunk and disorderly.”</p>
<p>“You’re close enough. And I’d rather you not fall over and make a mess in my house.”</p>
<p>“Your house?”</p>
<p>“Yes. The gazebo is my house.”</p>
<p>“I’ll see your permit for it then,” I reply smugly while fighting a yawn. “Besides, even if I wanted to, I can’t. I need this job so I can get through college quicker so I can have less debt. And rent in the city isn’t cheap—”</p>
<p>“—No, it certainly isn’t—”</p>
<p>“—So, I need the money too.”</p>
<p>“But surely passing your classes is the most important thing to you. And I doubt you’re going to get fired if you went to your boss and told them you’re in danger of passing out. Especially if you’re working in a hospital. I can’t imagine they’d like it if you fell asleep on the job.”</p>
<p>The image of being found fast asleep in the broom closet and getting fired had all the appeal of a heated fire prod to the back of the neck.</p>
<p>I try to stand up and cross my arms. Look strong and all that. When, really, my mind was running like an overworked projector. Tape deck exploding and film reel going everywhere.</p>
<p>“So, what are you suggesting I do?”</p>
<p>“Go home. Take a nap. Then go to class.”</p>
<p>“Just skip work? Just like that? You’re making it sound like it’s supposed to be so easy.”</p>
<p>“Take it from me. You’re better off taking care of yourself first. Work can come later. And they’ll understand.”</p>
<p>“Home is in the other direction of work,” I mutter while checking my cellphone for time. “And the next bus is in ten minutes without another one coming for half an hour. There would be no point if I missed it.”</p>
<p>“Then I’ll tell the hospital you’re feeling under the weather. You don’t have to miss the bus.”</p>
<p>He’s being a gentlemammal, but I still laugh. It feels like a game. Finding an excuse and seeing how far he’d go, like I’m being chased. But maybe that’s the sleepiness talking.</p>
<p>“You don’t even know my name.”</p>
<p>“No offense, but I doubt there are many other rabbits working the hospital. I think they’ll know who you are as soon as I describe you.”</p>
<p>“Oh, ho. Is that a fact?”</p>
<p>“I mean that in the best way possible,” he says with a smirk. “Seeing you so unbalanced has me nervous, is all.”</p>
<p>“...You’re worried about me?”</p>
<p>“Why wouldn’t I be? You’re the first person to bother to stick around and chat with me in a long time. Even if we don’t know each other’s names. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I didn’t care about someone’s well being?”</p>
<p>I don’t think even my roommates care about me having a full night’s rest. And here’s this kind wolf who we've only spoken to in five minute periods at a time with enough concern to worry about my health.</p>
<p>Worse yet, he’s winning that battle. My eyes are getting droopy. Suddenly, the thought of finishing my shift <em> and </em>having the energy to plow through my exam holds almost no appeal. I stick my unused cigarette back into the carton.</p>
<p>“Violet.”</p>
<p>“Pardon?” he asks.</p>
<p>“My name’s Violet. Violet Hopps.”</p>
<p>He looks somewhat surprised by my reveal. I can tell that he’s placing my name to my face as a mental task. He really does have nice brown eyes as he smiles.</p>
<p>“Adam. Adam Woods.”</p>
<p>“I guess we aren’t strangers anymore then,” I chuckle weakly before clearing my throat. “Thanks, Adam. I think I’ll take that nap now. If you really don’t mind walking all the way to the hospital.”</p>
<p>“I don’t have much better to do, so I don’t mind at all. Sleep well, alright?”</p>
<p>“Alright. Same time tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Bed sounds heavenly right about now and I wave to him as home calls for me.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>I ended up passing my exam, though not nearly as well as I would like to have.</p>
<p>For the student with a perfect 4.0, getting a high B is like having a chip in your front tooth. But Professor Goodwool can see that I’m trying and when I go to him after class, he allows me to make up the difference with some extra coursework. More school work over the weekend. But also more manageable than trying to pass his exam while running on empty.</p>
<p>I make sure to thank the wolf the very next day, coming to our usual spot with gratitude coffee as well as our usual smokes.</p>
<p>His name is Adam. And I find myself getting more and more curious about him as the day goes on.</p>
<p>The conversation never goes dry. We keep it centered around college after he asks me how my exam went. He’s not surprised to hear that I’m the top of my class, not that I brag about it. It lets me pry a little more into his life for a change.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to make fun,” I say, puffing from the cigarette and taking a quick sip of coffee. “I know I’m a bit of a nut when it comes to studying without you having to rub it in.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t laugh, but he does smile.</p>
<p>“No, I get it. I just wish I had that kind of motivation when I was in college.”</p>
<p>That’s the opening I had been waiting for. Though I still tread carefully.</p>
<p>“You’re smart. Why did you end up leaving?”</p>
<p>His smile lessens a little bit. But he doesn’t look away. “Nice of you to think I didn’t drop out. That’s the general consensus these days for twenty somethings.”</p>
<p>“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think it…”</p>
<p>“Well, I appreciate the honesty then,” he takes a long drag. “It just wasn’t for me. You know how it goes. Expecting university to be the goal of all this schooling that makes up the first half of our lives. And suddenly, you’re at the finish line and you go ‘I hate this. And I hate these people.’ Then, before you know it, you stop going to classes and start failing.”</p>
<p>Hearing that word makes me shiver. Or maybe it’s the cold around us. I take a sip of coffee to warm me up.</p>
<p>“I can’t even think about failing,” I mutter. “My family gave up too much for me to be here. I have a little sister at home who wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I quit.”</p>
<p>“Well, you’re the kind of person I would have liked to have met a couple of years ago. Genuine honesty in your gladness to be there. Instead, I was just subjected to constant social pandering. People pretending to like you only to use you. I got sick of it all.”</p>
<p>My thoughts trail to my roommates and the people I eat lunch with.</p>
<p>“How do you stand it?” he asks. “Or is it different for you major?”</p>
<p>“Stand what?”</p>
<p>“The fakeness. Amongst the frats and the clubs. After a while it just grates on you, doesn’t it? Trying to put on the smiles all the time and pretending to care about their trivial problems involving crushes and climbing the social ladder. Know what the worst thing I ever heard in college was?”</p>
<p>I smirk. “What?”</p>
<p>“There was this spoiled rich chinchilla chick who was on the school paper. She came in one day complaining how she got turned away from an interview for the Fur Fighters when they were in town. Then she went on to talk about how all she gets is requests from local indie bands. You know, guys who are just starting out and need all the attention they can get. The guys that do anything and give everything for a chance at the spotlight.”</p>
<p>He bites down onto his cigarette. I see his teeth.</p>
<p>“And she had the nerve to call those guys desperate. This is the same girl that, in the same breath, was upset her parents couldn’t let her go to Pawaii without a few escorts slash bodyguards. The sort of person who probably has never worked a day in her life.”</p>
<p>White smoke exploded out of his mouth and he sighs.</p>
<p>“Sorry. I get a little worked up when people are ignorant to their own blessings. Especially when people diss the indie bands that I used to work with. Helped a lot of those guys get started. Still friends with a bunch.”</p>
<p>“No, I get it. It’s nice to be passionate about stuff like that. I can relate. No one expects a rabbit to be a doctor, after all.”</p>
<p>“Right. Right, I shouldn’t complain least I sound like a hypocrite. I’m sure you have your own problems that I can’t even begin to comprehend.”</p>
<p>“It’s not easy,” I nod along at being a small rabbit in a big city. “But that doesn’t trivialize the things you’ve been through. So long as everyone’s trying their hardest, I think that’s all that can really matter.”</p>
<p>He looks at me for a while with his big brown eyes.</p>
<p>“That’s a nice sentiment,” he said, sipping from his coffee. “Wish more people thought like that. Not to sound like a pessimist though but I don’t think it’s very viable to change in the future despite what the bumper sticker slogans for the city say. Hell, we can’t even get the right of refusal repealed for different species around the city let alone something like interspecies marriage legal.”</p>
<p>“Well, we don’t change that unless we try, right? If a rabbit and a wolf can have a civil conversation with each other, maybe there’s hope for everyone else.”</p>
<p>He laughs, even though I don’t see what’s so funny about what I said.</p>
<p>“You know something? I like how you think. You’re absolutely right.”</p>
<p>There’s that stupid redness in my ears as I check at my phone for time. My break is supposed to be five minutes long. I’ve been out here for ten.</p>
<p>“Alright,” I say, slipping my cell phone timepiece back into my coat pocket. “Back to the grind. Same time tomorrow?”</p>
<p>He thinks for a moment as a smirk curls around his cigarette.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Same time tomorrow.”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>A week goes by and our talks together are the highlight for me every day.</p>
<p>I begin to wonder why that is.</p>
<p>At first I think it’s just the relief in the middle of my long shift at the hospital, a brief break in the craziness that is my days working. But then Sunday rolls around and I find myself taking my one day off and being bored of studying, of all things. Violet Hopps doesn’t get bored of studying. I was the one reading every book in the library back in the burrows. But there are some things novels can’t teach you. And boys are certainly one of those things.</p>
<p>Okay, so I have myself a little crush.</p>
<p>I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that I’d be interested in a wolf after Angus. But pushing for something outside your species is one of those things you never know how someone will react to.</p>
<p>I learn from our talks that Adam certainly is open minded with his political views, like any young liberal would be. But that doesn’t mean that he’s actually seeking someone not so close to home for him. I’ve certainly made that mistake before. Bunnyburrow and Zootopia are two very different places though. The city tends to have people more tolerant. Or, at least, they pretend to be.</p>
<p>At home, I remembered hiding my time with Angus.</p>
<p>That was one good thing about working together at the library. The quiet. No one would think two library assistants would be snogging in the archives. Most of my high school career was spent planning for college, and spending whatever free time I could with Angus on the side. It was nice when I thought those kinds of days would last forever. But everyone’s had a high school sweetheart. Even Judy, though she’s not even in highschool anymore after that spray paint thing.</p>
<p>I’d love to talk about these feelings with someone.</p>
<p>But it’s much the way it was with Angus, keeping it under wraps and just seeing where it takes me. I’m not sure who would understand them anyway. Certainly no one in my social circle, who are all about finding guys in their own genre. They don’t really know that about me. No one does, except the few folks at home who do by association. Maybe Judy, but I’m not sure. She never asked me about it. She’d probably understand and listen to me though. And all this talk of home makes me miss my little sister and I find myself wanting to call her.</p>
<p>But, knowing Judy, she’d just tell me not to worry about her. So, I focus my attention on going about my week.</p>
<p>I power through Sunday, confident enough that I’m going to ace the exam, and I suddenly find myself looking forward to Monday working at the hospital in the morning. And the subsequent smoke break that will follow.</p>
<p>I don’t do anything the stereotypical girl does in the movies around a crush. Wearing makeup has never really been my thing and it's impractical when working my shift in the medical wing. But I do grab some scones from the break room to share with Adam on the cold morning. They’re still warm from the nearby bakery.</p>
<p>There’s a slight skip in my step when the clock reaches 10 AM and I don’t even think about having a cigarette, for a change.</p>
<p>It’s almost February and there’s a rosy color of pink amongst the decor on the street. The candy and greeting card industry is in full swing with the promise of Valentine’s Day right around the corner.</p>
<p>I know the route by heart by now. Hopping out the door and following the salt stained sidewalk to the lot down the street. There’s something that makes you feel light after you figure out your feelings towards someone. Like the next breeze could send you flying in the wind, and your heart’s heavy enough that it feels like the anchor as the only thing keeping you grounded. I turn the blind corner to the square.</p>
<p>And he’s not here.</p>
<p>I can feel the frown on my face burning a hole in the snow.</p>
<p>He’s not standing there in the gazebo, where he typically is. He’s not by the fountain, the elephant finishing up his cigar is there. And he’s not loitering near the ashtray, the lemur is there leaving and tossing away her smoke to return to her shift. She gives me a passing look as she walks on by. No doubt she’s taken notice to the time we’ve been spending together the past month of January. She shakes her head as if to say “haven’t seen him.”</p>
<p>I must look really stupid, standing there only two scones that are fast going cold in my paw. The thoughts come in like a sudden gust over the buildings. The trees rustled by an invisible chill.</p>
<p>Of course he doesn’t like you in that way, Vivi. You’re being stupid. Why would he be interested in you? He’s given absolutely no clue that he would be. You’re reading way too much into things as per usual.</p>
<p>I give a sigh that makes me sound like I’m forty and the weight of the world has magically aged me by twenty years. Given everything I have to work through at the hospital, I wouldn’t be surprised if I start getting wrinkles in a few years.</p>
<p>So what if he’s been there everyday since you started working at the hospital? Why would that change today of all days? At least there’s scones, but I suddenly don’t have the stomach to eat two of them. Plus, I technically came out here to do one thing.</p>
<p>I forgot how quiet these breaks used to be as I lit up. Breath in and let it all out.</p>
<p>This was really dumb.</p>
<p>There’s no sense getting worked up over him not being here today. Or that’s what I keep telling myself. So what if I’ve been in college for almost four years and haven’t dated anyone? I’ve been busy with life and planning my future. It’s not like I can be loud and proud about who does hold my interest, anyway.</p>
<p>I figured it out at a young age.</p>
<p>While other does were busy fawning over bucks in the 6th grade, I could honestly say I held no interest in other bunnies. Tried the dating rabbits thing once in middle school. But I think we both knew it wasn’t going to work with the first buck, Tommy. Didn’t even make it to first base, which is pretty impressive considering how fast most rabbits move. I just always sort of knew that the usual suspects weren’t going to hold my interest. There wasn’t the spark.</p>
<p>I didn’t even know it had a name until sophomore year of high school when dad brought it up. This was after Judy’s accident. Interspecies relationships. A lot of the politicians in the big city were bringing it up as a topic to get younger voters into the polls. Marriage was among the buzzwords. Me though, I was just happy that these thoughts and feelings weren’t weird. Well, it wasn’t the norm, sure. I knew that much, even now. But I’m not strange or bizarre for wanting something different. I can be myself instead of pretending to like the bucks mom kept sending my way.</p>
<p>
  <em>Is that what you told Angus when he broke it up with you?</em>
</p>
<p>For a coyote of a few words, the ones he did have for me cut like razor blades when I didn’t want to tell our parents about us. I just hoped he’d understand. After things got heated in the burrows between predator and prey, it was kind of dangerous. For both of us. It was what was best. Or that’s what I told myself at the time.</p>
<p>It did put me out of commission completely as I slunk into the college dating scene my first year from home. I lost myself in my schooling instead. Joined clubs. Made friends. Picked up smoking. Much healthier habit than dating, really. Though I did try speed dating with some friends in my second year, if only to humor them. After the sixth strike out, I think they got the message that the scene just wasn’t for me and they stopped asking me to come.</p>
<p>People always say that they support the different species lifestyle and that they’re forward thinking. But it always becomes this big guessing game to see who’s actually a part of your scene or not. And when Adam started paying attention to me...I dunno. I guess I just got kind of excited. The first predator I’ve had a personal talk with in ages, where it’s been just the two of us. And he liked talking to me too. Or, at least, that was what I thought.</p>
<p>And I’ve been wrong before about a great many things before. I’m not perfect, no matter how hard I try to be.</p>
<p>I’m huffing a lot and the cigarette in my mouth actually gets finished on time. There’s a minute left of my break, but I suddenly don’t feel like spending it alone.</p>
<p>As I flick the butt into the trash can, my ears twitch. Someone else is huffing and puffing, though not on a cigarette.</p>
<p>Adam’s standing at the gazebo entrance, keeling over and hacking up a lung. He spits something black out that I recognize all too well from my sink in the mornings. This really is a terrible habit that’s going to get one of us killed someday.</p>
<p>“Made it,” he checks his own phone. “...Or not.”</p>
<p>He looks up at me with his big, brown eyes. He’s panting and completely out of breath. The confusion on my face must have demanded an explanation, because that’s what he barrels into. Or tries to, anyway.</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry. I ran as fast as I could when I realized the interview was going past 10…”</p>
<p>“Interview?” I ask. “What…?”</p>
<p>“Right,” he backtracks looking at his phone again as the clock turns a minute. “That won’t make much sense...Look...I’ll be honest here, this week has been absolutely insane for me. I’ve been running around trying to find work. And...”</p>
<p>He looks at the two scones still in my paw. His ears fold.</p>
<p>“And I kept you waiting,” he said. “Crap, I didn’t want you to think I was bailing on you. Our thing here has sort of become this routine that I don’t want to screw up.”</p>
<p>It slowly occurs to me that what he’s trying to say is that he enjoys my company. And that he ran all this way just to make sure I didn’t think otherwise.</p>
<p>Who wouldn’t smile at that?</p>
<p>“It’s alright,” I say as I try to come up with something for reassurance. “Really. Want to walk with me back to work?”</p>
<p>He returns my smile with one of his own.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Alright. I’d like that. Might give me the chance to explain a few things.”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“My mom and dad died in a plane crash when I was really young.”</p>
<p>I give him a quiet look of sadness as we walk along the sidewalk together, making tracks in the snow. He shrugs and glances away from me.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s normally why I don’t open with that. Really though, I was two when it happened. I barely even remember them. Only thing that I recall was the smell of eggs fried in the morning whenever they were home. Dad was an investment banker and mom was a model, so they went on a lot of business together traveling the world. I wouldn’t have gotten to see them very much anyway. But my family is big enough that I never got lonely.”</p>
<p>I chuckle at that thought. Big families are a very familiar subject for me and I can’t help but boast.</p>
<p>“I have three hundred and eight siblings. And that’s just the immediate family.”</p>
<p>“...Okay. Maybe not that big. But my aunts and uncles were all happy to raise me. And both mom and dad left me a massive inheritance from their jobs, so it wasn’t <em> all </em>bad. But that’s way too much to ever give a kid and force him to deal with at a young age. Everything was planned for me ahead of time so the money didn’t get misused. All through early school and into college. Instead of helicopter parents, I had an entire helicopter family. When I finally got to university, I was hoping I saw the end of it. Big mistake, that was.”</p>
<p>He sighs and takes a big bite of the scone I had given him.</p>
<p>“I told you how that ended. It was even worse surrounded by rich kids from their own families. I just got sick of hearing it all the time. And I never felt like I earned a thing. You’re made to believe that everything you do should be rewarded for your own merits. I just felt like everyone saw that my worth came from who my parents were, even though I had never really known them. I hated it. And I hated how I didn’t feel any different from the other students with money. While the scholarship kids, who were just happy to be there, thought I put on airs.”</p>
<p>I realize something while he’s telling his life story. “Were you worried I might see you differently for it?”</p>
<p>“...You’re the kind of person who works so hard that she’ll pass out before she considers taking a break to worry about herself. It sounds like you had to work hard for everything you had. And a big part of me is really envious of that. It doesn’t sound like there were any shortcuts for you.”</p>
<p>“But that doesn’t make you any less valid.”</p>
<p>He nods along and he can tell he’s fighting to smirk.</p>
<p>“Anyway, that’s what led to me dropping out and living on the streets. And that’s part of why I was late today...”</p>
<p>I stop in place.</p>
<p>“Wait a minute, are you homeless?”</p>
<p>His ears perk up and then slowly droop, as if he didn’t expect me to catch that little detail in his story. He sounds very reluctant to be talking about this subject matter now.</p>
<p>“That’s kind of a strong word...I do <em> technically </em>have a home. I’ve been crashing in the gazebo for a couple of months now.”</p>
<p>“Oh, jeez. Adam, I thought you were joking about that!”</p>
<p>He winces like I’m pulling his tail.</p>
<p>“I know, I know. I’m stubborn and stupid. It was a rash decision I made at the end of last semester. I tend to make choices on a whim like that and stick to them no matter how bad it gets. I even threw out my cellphone so my family wouldn’t contact me…”</p>
<p>“Oh, my god,” I stamp my foot on the icy sidewalk. “You mean they don’t know you’re <em> not </em>dead?”</p>
<p>“Well, I mean, I told them I would be fine when last we spoke…”</p>
<p>“I call my family every week,” I say indignantly. “And even still it worries the heck out of my mom. And you dropped off the grid entirely since <em> last year </em>. When’s the last time you even had a proper bath?”</p>
<p>“...The public gym allows for showers if you were a lifetime member.”</p>
<p>I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I don’t know whether I should smack this dopey wolf upside his head or hold him close and tell him everything will be alright. He looks helpless having just admitted all that to me. It’s almost pitiable.</p>
<p>Though, at this very moment, I’m more livid with him than anything else.</p>
<p>Somehow, we’ve stumbled back to the hospital. He’s hesitant to follow me inside, so I grab him by the wrist of his hoodie and drag him into the waiting room.</p>
<p>It must be a very comical sight to anyone watching. A small rabbit pulling along a much bigger wolf. But you might be surprised to hear that it’s actually pretty common in an ER, where small doctors need to keep their larger patients restrained. There’s actually an advantage to working on a large patient. You can be more precise and gentle without big, clumsy paws.</p>
<p>“Sit,” I order him by pointing to the many empty chairs. “My shift is over in two hours. Have you eaten today?”</p>
<p>I think he knows that lying to me at this point would probably just make me angry. “No…Just your scone.”</p>
<p>I try not to show I’m upset, so he gets positive feedback from telling me the truth. But deep down, I am <em> pissed </em>. There are levels to stupidity that make stubborn decisions unfathomably questionable. I just turn around to fume in my own corner of the ward, clenching my paw before pointing to the breakroom.</p>
<p>“There’s drinks and more scones in there. Mention my name, Donna will let you in. Can you sit tight until noon?”</p>
<p>“I think I’ll manage, sure…”</p>
<p>“Oh, you’d better,” I mutter under my breath.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Working lets me cool my head a little bit more.</p>
<p>I know I shouldn’t be too upset with him after all he’s been through. But one thing that always gets to me is when people shut off from a family that cares about them. And not thinking about the consequences that would come from that. Plus, there are people who you see on the streets all the time who are really homeless and not by choice. To subject yourself willingly to that is not only stupid, it’s condescending to people who literally have nothing to support themselves. What was he thinking?</p>
<p>He’s similar to Judy, in a lot of ways, with his stubbornness. Maybe that’s why conversation comes so easy when we’re together.</p>
<p>I manage to steal a few glances his way whenever I find myself back near the waiting room. Mostly it’s looking through the doors at him, just a check up to see how he’s doing. He entertains himself with reading magazines and generally not moving from his spot, like he’s afraid to.</p>
<p>Well, good. I hope I scared him. Folks grossly underestimate just how frightening a bunny can be when angered. I think he notices my glares and folds the magazine up over his snout to avoid eye contact. Just like a kid who gets caught with his paw in the cookie jar.</p>
<p>Noon rolls around and with it my stomach growls at the promise of greasy cafeteria food.</p>
<p>Adam’s still waiting with the magazine in his paws, though he’s on his feet the moment I step out of the staff room. I probably look terrible and smell worse considering I had to clean up a milk spill in the maternity ward where some possum gave birth to nonuplets. But, at this moment, I do not care. I’m just glad my shift is finally over.</p>
<p>We make our way to the bus stop without so much as a word. Every student gets a free travel card as part of their tuition to make navigating the city easier. Adam still has his, despite dropping out.</p>
<p>And I’m not in the mood to argue moral implications, especially to someone who’s been sleeping outside all winter.</p>
<p>“What were you thinking?” I ask when we’re standing in the back with the lunch rush on the double decker to the Downtown square. “Sleeping in the cold? What? Was this some stupid ritual to prove yourself that I don’t know about with canines?”</p>
<p>“My mom was a tundra wolf, actually. So, it must be in my blood.”</p>
<p>“That’s not funny,” I state with an icy enough tone that even he shivers. “Do you know how many people we see coming into the infirmary this time of year with frostbite or worse? Donna said a couple of years ago, someone actually froze to death outside near Tundratown. A poor field mouse that got stomped on. What were you trying to prove?”</p>
<p>I feel him staring at me for a long time before I smell the cigarettes from his sigh.</p>
<p>“I suppose I had the idea that I didn’t deserve the things I had and that I would appreciate them more if I started from nothing. But it didn’t really turn out that way.”</p>
<p>He itches at his ears.</p>
<p>Now that we’re standing closer together I can smell him better. It’s under the stench of cigarette smoke that makes for an effective deodorant. He has a stale scent that reminds me of used bottles after rain passes over a dumpster. How long has he been wearing those same clothes, I wonder?</p>
<p>“You think you can just start from zilch like you’re some sort of super mammal. Isn’t that what people used to do way back in the day when school was actually affordable? Leave college with nothing and work their way up. But then you get there and the obstacles you face just zap away any motivation you have. You’re invisible to everyone all of a sudden. No one cares. And, in a weird strange way, I kind of liked that.”</p>
<p>He frowns and looks away from me.</p>
<p>“That probably doesn’t make much sense. And you’re right. It is stupid now. And selfish and unfair to the people who don’t have a choice in that same situation. It was just...Easier to give up and blend in. The cold never really bothered me and it was nice to not have to worry about social things, for a change. Any obligations faded away and I could actually have time to think. It was low pressure and that was appealing to me.”</p>
<p>Something about what he says echoes in my head. Or in the way he says it.</p>
<p>In my own weird, strange way, I kind of get it. We’re passing out of the hospital district and heading in the Downtown near where the universities are. Namely my school’s campus and cafeteria.</p>
<p>“You said you were late from an interview,” I say. “What did you mean by that?”</p>
<p>He keeps quiet for a long moment.</p>
<p>“...Would it be weird for me to say that our smoke breaks together have been kind of like the highlight of my month?”</p>
<p>“Flattering me won’t make me less angry.”</p>
<p>“That’s fair enough. But I’m being serious. I don’t know. You were the first person to actually talk to me in...God...Probably months. All that time, no one caring about what I was doing, I forgot what it was like to speak with someone. To laugh and to enjoy conversation again.”</p>
<p>He keeps up a pretty straight face for saying something so corny. That leads me to believe he’s being genuine.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I get how that sounds,” he continues. “<em> Oh, Adam. Being the sweet talker with trying to make it sound like there’s nothing else in the world but talking with me</em>. But, I mean, give a mammal nothing but five minutes a day and suddenly it's all the time in the world. Like making a feast from crumbs. The silence was nice for a while. But I forgot how much I missed talking. Even the small stuff. So...I had another impulse.”</p>
<p>“You were never told <em> no </em>as a child, were you?”</p>
<p>“I got a job,” he ignored my comment completely. “Something small to start at a gas station. That’s where I was today. It’s not much, but it’s more than I had a week ago. I think I’m ready to start living again. And I wanted to thank you for it.”</p>
<p>“Thank me for it?” I raise an eye. “You did it yourself. I didn’t convince you to do anything.”</p>
<p>“I mean, in a way you did. I think I’m ready to unfreeze. That wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t spoken to someone. That someone just happened to be you.”</p>
<p>“Lucky me,” I muttered as our bus comes to a stop. “Come on.”</p>
<p>“Where are we going, exactly?”</p>
<p>“You’re getting a proper meal and shower, for once. I can smell you from here. It’s a miracle they even gave you a job with how much of a mess you look.”</p>
<p>He just laughs as we step off the bus. That only makes me turn a glare to him, enough that I feel like lasers are going to start shooting from my pupils.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” he coughs out one last chuckle. “It’s just I’ve never been scolded like this before.”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>I abandon my usual hang out of friends for lunch in favor of a private table with Adam.</p>
<p>I can already feel the stares on us as we sit down together. Alone.</p>
<p>Not that it's weird for a prey and predator to be eating together, that happens all the time in university. But he is clearly older than me and pretty ragged too. Why is it now that I realize that he’s looked like a bum from the moment I met him? Maybe that’s too harsh. But he does have the rugged, devil-may-care look down pat. Compared to me, anyway.</p>
<p>I look like your average college med kid. Wearing my scrubs, sure, given I haven’t had the chance to go back and change at home. But around the medical school that’s a fairly average sight, right up there with seeing kids still wearing their pajamas. That’s when I realize we’re complete mismatches in colors. My scrubs are light blue and my coat is white. Meanwhile Adam has on a black fleece hoodie that blends into his fur. He’s like a shadow on the other end of our table. A very cheerful and hungry shadow.</p>
<p>He’s all smiles with having a full belly now. That’s after I smack him when he hesitates to take a tray. Like most school cafeterias, it’s an all you can eat with several stations for different kinds of mammals. I can only imagine he hasn’t gotten to see so much food in the time he’s been out on the streets. It costs me one of my pre-paid meals, but I can always just snack from the hospital break room one day.</p>
<p>Besides, seeing him happy and full makes it all worthwhile. I try to hide my contentment by munching on my salad.</p>
<p>“So,” I say to distract myself. “What are you going to do with this new job?”</p>
<p>“Well, it’s only part time. Just something to get my feet on the ground. I’ll probably save some money to put a down payment on an apartment, at first. Then after that...Dunno. That’s kind of exciting, isn’t it? I don’t have a plan and I’m working to figure things out as I go. Doesn’t that sound fun? A big old blank sheet of paper.”</p>
<p>“I would find that terrifying, actually,” I mutter while sipping at my iced tea.</p>
<p>“You live through so much planning that sometimes you just want to go off course and see what happens. You know? Life’s not supposed to go according to plan all the time and things happen to derail you. If you live your whole life gripping the rails, what happens when you hit a lucky penny on the track one day and go flying?”</p>
<p>“You crash, obviously.”</p>
<p>“But what if you weren’t meant to be a train? What if I wanted to be an airplane or a motorcycle? This metaphor is a bit confused now, but I think you get my point.”</p>
<p>I quickly put my cup to my mouth to cover my smile. “No. I really, really don’t…”</p>
<p>“I can do anything I want to now. And I can’t explain how exciting it is to not have those restrictions on my life. When, before, I didn’t have that fire in me to actually do anything about it. Like I was awake every day and couldn’t be asked. Sleeping through my life.”</p>
<p>“Well, back to my original question then. What do you want to do now?”</p>
<p>He stares at me blankly and blinks a few times like a traffic light silently changing.</p>
<p>“Dunno,” he replies with a shrug. “I was pretty into music in college. Maybe I can pick that up again in my own way. Despite dropping out, I loved doing what I was doing.”</p>
<p>“Which was…?”</p>
<p>“Managing, mostly. Building up connections for smaller bands to give them the push to the next level.”</p>
<p>“I thought you were studying music. I didn’t know there would be the business side of it too.”</p>
<p>“That’s mostly what the classes were about, which is why a lot of people changed majors after freshman year. Business and marketing took over. You had to know your stuff when it came to musical theory, of course. And playing an instrument was advised, but never necessary. I used to sing well before I took up smoking.”</p>
<p>“Well, then you might have not ended up here.”</p>
<p>“Hah. True enough.”</p>
<p>His eyes glance to the tables next to us. I think he’s finally noticed the quiet stares from a few of the folks in the cafeteria.</p>
<p>It’s Zootopia, so there’s plenty of variety in the lunchroom. But even so, he manages to stand out. Like he’s a celebrity or something, but more like the opposite.</p>
<p>“Speaking of which,” he continues. “You sure it’s cool for me to be here? I mean, I don’t want to get you in trouble.”</p>
<p>“You’re not getting out of a decent lunch for a change.”</p>
<p>“Not trying to. Just feeling the eyes on me. Reading the mood, you’d think I’ve gone rolling in the trash and stink.”</p>
<p>“<em>Have </em> you been doing that?”</p>
<p>“Nah. I mean, I tried dumpster diving once when I first started out. Supposedly you can find plenty of treasures in it or still-good food. I ended up cutting myself on some tin can and never tried it again. But not before spending most of that afternoon swimming in the fountain to get the smell off me.”</p>
<p>I notice he’s much more open to telling me about his misadventures living on the street now. In fact, it almost sounds like he’s boasting to impress me. Like he’s done all these things but had no one to share them with. He doesn’t wear an ounce of shame on his face while he’s discussing matters with me. Not bragging about them. But he sees them as moments of pride that made him who he is.</p>
<p>“So, what’s the deal then? Don’t tell me the ZU-brats aren’t used to seeing preds. I see them walking all around the cafeteria.”</p>
<p>He’s not wrong in that I notice a few lionesses and hyenas keeping company to their own corners and booths. And it’s not like the school is segregated. Far from it given that Zootopia University is probably one of the most open and diverse places in the city for a young person’s education. That was part of my reason for coming here. We even accommodate mice and other smaller mammals in the shared eating space.</p>
<p>His rugged looks certainly hold a part of the stares. But given students’ tendency to dress with whatever is on the top of their drawers for class, it hardly merits a mention outside of a few awkward glances.</p>
<p>He can’t be that oblivious to the real reason, can he?</p>
<p>One table. Two mammals. One prey and one pred. Sitting together. That kind of sends the message that we’re an item.</p>
<p>Not that preds and prey can’t sit together. I can also see that around the cafeteria. Friends sitting with friends. But it’s always a group of them. Like three preds and five prey. Or four prey and two preds. The number of prey is never less than or equal to the pred headcount. Unless there’s something going on. There’s this unspoken language to the social network of university. A tongue that everyone comes to learn within their first year or they sink or swim.</p>
<p>You can sit by yourself, that’s fine.</p>
<p>You can sit in a group of three or more, that’s called being social</p>
<p>But sitting with just two is different. Two people sitting together alone isn’t done in the cafeteria save for two exceptions. The first is they’re just a pair of friends of the <em> same </em>gender enjoying a quick bite because they have to run to class and they can’t join in on heavy social activities. The other, and more likely option, is that the two mammals in question are dating/on a date.</p>
<p>Considering I don’t have class for another hour and Adam is very much a guy reeking with hormones, that kind of narrows the list down. And there is no physical way to signal what this is to my peers. Especially since I’m not even sure what <em> this </em>is myself.</p>
<p>How in the name of sweet cheese and salty crackers am I going to message to everyone that this isn’t what they aren’t all thinking it is?</p>
<p>I can’t, simple as that.</p>
<p>So, I resigned myself to that fate from the moment I’ve walked into the cafeteria and ignored my friends sitting at their own booth. The friends who are also <em> very much </em> joining in on the stares. I can only imagine what’s going through their heads. Violet Hopps, head of her class, on a date with some wolf that looks like she picked up off the street. I can already tell that I’m going to be hearing rumors by the time dinner rolls around. Some things change between high school and college. But some things <em> never </em>do. And considering I know my love life has been a hot topic occasionally brought up around the table…</p>
<p>I don’t know how I’m supposed to explain these social intricacies to Adam without being blunt. With my head in my paw, playing idly with my salad, I let out a sigh.</p>
<p>“They think we’re on a date.”</p>
<p>His reaction makes my ears blush.</p>
<p>“You mean, we aren’t?”</p>
<p>“No,” I reply, trying to make my heart rate slow down. “This is <em> friendly </em> help extended between two <em> friends </em>so you’re not left out in the cold again.”</p>
<p>“Well, I can see that. But let’s not forget you’re the one taking me out to lunch.”</p>
<p>“You’re more a pet than a friend at this point if I have to feed you and <em> bathe </em>you later,” I have to force myself not to avert eyes from him to give me away.</p>
<p>“Oh, you’re going to bathe me yourself, are you?”</p>
<p>“That...Is <em> so </em>not what I meant and you know it. Besides, I don’t think I could handle the stench. I’m not even a canine and I can smell you from here.”</p>
<p>“I suppose I can’t call that musk, huh? And so what if you’re not a canine? We’re all mammals here, aren’t we? We all got noses. And hearts.”</p>
<p>It didn’t take much to realize we aren’t talking about smells. At that thought, I can’t help but look away in a moment of weakness.</p>
<p>“You’re serious?”</p>
<p>“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asks.</p>
<p>“A bunch of reasons. You never know what people might think when you bring it up to them.”</p>
<p>“You’ve done this before then?”</p>
<p>“I dated a coyote in high school and we were pretty serious for a while.”</p>
<p>“Huh,” Adam frowns. “You know, it didn’t even occur to me to ask if you had a boyfriend already.”</p>
<p>I’ve long given up the battle to control the redness in my ears. I’m sure the whole cafeteria has noticed them, at this point.</p>
<p>“I don’t date. Not since I came to college.”</p>
<p>“Wow. You must creak like a rusty hinge then.”</p>
<p>“Please, don’t start with me on that. I know it’s not the norm for a rabbit to not be active with someone. I already hear an earful enough from my mom about dating. Or lack thereof. I turn down enough bucks to make her fur go white.”</p>
<p>“You mean she doesn’t know?”</p>
<p>“No one does,” I confess. “It’s not something you can just bring up lightly. Not that I’m embarrassed or anything. I mean...This might be Zootopia, but it’s still a dangerous place. You know?”</p>
<p>The sad, wide eyed look he gives me reminds me of Angus. And that prompts me to keep talking.</p>
<p>“I mean...It’s just one of those things that I always felt kind of weird for. Especially living in a small town where, if you decide you don’t want to farm carrots for a living, you’re considered strange. I’m the only Hopps who has ever left Bunnyburrow to go to the city. That’s already strange enough. And, when I left home, there was a lot of animosity between preds and prey over a certain event that involved my family.”</p>
<p>Jeez, it’s been a long time since I’ve really spoken to Judy, at that thought. I could spend literally hours going over the trial beforehand and how much a divide our encounters with the Greys created. But a summary is going to have to do.</p>
<p>“Long story short. My little sister broke her leg from a fox and it led to her being crippled. A year later, she bit his ear off and put him in the hospital.”</p>
<p>“That’s kind of impressive, actually.”</p>
<p>“The townsfolk didn’t see it that way,” I sigh while thinking about cherry medicine and ice cream. “It got scary real fast. Small town people with the buzz of fear can be both frightening and unpredictable. Prey afraid of preds attacking them while unprovoked. Preds thinking prey can get away with murder because we outnumber them. If folks heard I was dating a coyote...I honestly don’t know what would have happened. There would have been threats, not just to us but to our families. That’s not to mention how <em> family </em>would react. My dad certainly would have flipped his lid.”</p>
<p>He stares at me briefly before giving me a warm smile. “Well, I know a thing or two about about crazy families. There’s no shame in keeping a little secret like that.”</p>
<p>“<em> He </em> didn’t see it that way,” I mutter quietly.</p>
<p>“Your dad?”</p>
<p>“No, he’s another kettle of carrots with his campaign to be mayor following the incident making things worse. Angus broke up with me because he wanted to be vocal about our relationship and I didn’t.”</p>
<p>“Ah…”</p>
<p>It feels weird telling him all this. I haven’t spoken to any of my friends about my history, especially with all that’s going on at home. Mom likes to soften the news over our phone calls.</p>
<p>But Adam was pretty honest and open about his life, even if it ended with me yelling at him. It’s only fair that I do the same with him. Or that’s the way I see it…</p>
<p>“So,” he says while glancing around the cafeteria. “Everyone here thinks we’re on a date?”</p>
<p>“Yeah…”</p>
<p>“And you brought me here knowing that would happen anyway?”</p>
<p>“It was the right thing to do,” I say, looking away from him. “You were starving and living off the streets. Even if it was because of your own reckless decision, what kind of person would I be if I just let you do that without trying to help? What would that make me?”</p>
<p>“Different,” he replies. “From everyone else. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”</p>
<p>“I mean, I guess...I wanted to be a doctor so I could take care of people. I’m not about to turn someone away like that. That would be cruel. And horrible.”</p>
<p>He gives my words thought for a moment. The deep fried potatoes he has been munching are probably cold at this point. But he doesn’t seem to mind eating them, all the same. He looks like he’s pondering something important. Then he laughs as he looks back up at me.</p>
<p>“Listen, I know I’m far from a catch given what I told you about me,” he says. “But would you like to have a real date sometime? If it was my treat?”</p>
<p>My ears must look like two long beets. “You’re serious?”</p>
<p>“It doesn’t have to be somewhere public. I don’t mind keeping it quiet if it’s making you uncomfortable. And I’m happy with standing up right now and telling your friends over there that you just felt bad for some bum on the streets and were feeding him. Want me to?”</p>
<p>“No, that would be awful!”</p>
<p>“Hell, I’d be happy for five minutes of your time. Five minute dating over cigarettes and subs. Just like we’ve been doing. I’ll negotiate my schedule at the gas station to still have time for those breaks, if you’d want me to.”</p>
<p>“Why though?”</p>
<p>“Why not?” he just shrugs like it’s a perfectly acceptable reaction. “I enjoy your company and would like to get to know you better. It doesn’t have to be anything special. But if you’re asking me ‘why you,’ then it’s because you’re smart and you have a good heart. And I admire that in you.”</p>
<p>I’m suddenly glad I haven’t eaten very much yet because the butterflies in my stomach are starting to make me queasy. You do the hunting for someone outside of your genre for so long that you don’t even think they might come to you instead.</p>
<p>There’s a little blush in his own ears as he rubs the back of his head.</p>
<p>“Like I said, I know I’m probably not what you were looking for in a guy. Or your first choice. So, if you say no then that’s totally cool and we can just keep doing what we’ve been doing, if that’s what you’d rather. There’s no pressure or nothing. Just...An impulse, I guess.”</p>
<p>I open and close my mouth a few times. Then I laugh. How am I supposed to say no to that?</p>
<p>“What did you have in mind for a date?”</p>
<p>His ears perk up instantly. “I mean, I figured dinner would be nice. I don’t have a place in particular in mind. There’s some good joints around where I went to college. And Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. So...”</p>
<p>“I suppose my life could be a little more...Spontaneous.”</p>
<p>“Is this before or after I shower at your place?”</p>
<p>“After. But don’t think I’m that easy. And you’re calling your family before all this or you can forget about that date.”</p>
<p>He looks a little worried at the prospect, but doesn’t lose his hopeful tone.</p>
<p>“It’s a promise then.”</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The gossip around the school reaches my ears by dinner.</p>
<p>Violet Hopps is dating a wolf. He’s a savaging looking thing with a mean glare to him. He growled at someone. He eats chicken out in the open. It’s all hot air, but I do nothing to deny it. Not only would that make matters worse, but I honestly can’t find myself caring.</p>
<p>Tuesday rolls around and it’s back to schedule. 4:59 AM. Wake up. 5:05 AM. Coffee. 5:11 AM. Smoke. 5:19 AM. Get dressed. 5:25 AM. Make the bus on time. 5:37 AM. Get to work. Don’t need more coffee this morning. This is going to be a good day as I look forward to my 10 AM break.</p>
<p>I got a big date at the end of the week, after all. Same time tomorrow.</p>
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